The last few weeks of 2009 and first weeks of 2010 have taught us many new lessons about our energy industry here in the UK. We started with Copenhagen where our Governments initiative to lead a global agreement on climate change met with fierce resistance in many parts of the world and ended in more or less complete failure. Still it was a good effort supported by many here in the UK, but perhaps it reflects Britain’s new standing in the world’s political order. Copenhagen has of course been followed by some of the coldest weather we have experienced for years. I can’t tell the story about my children not experiencing a good fall of snow anymore!

The extreme weather has of course tested our energy system to the full. The gas and electricity systems appear to have come through and performed extremely well despite having had little practise in recent years.

The announcement by DECC at the beginning of the month on Feed In Tariffs and Renewable Heat Incentives has been long overdue. Ed Miliband said “The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make the move to low carbon living. The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past. It will also change the outlook for a range of industries, in particular those in the business of producing and installing small scale low carbon technology.”

We shall wait to see whether these schemes can actually be delivered effectively alongside the current schemes and how much of an improvement in our green living we collectively achieve.